| Marred by Controversies - the Alpine Club Championship is a Hughe Success The 2001 Alpine Championships were held on Sunday, March 25 at Bromley in glorious conditions with plenty of sun and fresh powder. The arrangements by the Bromley Outing Club were impeccable as usual although the SSC Alpine Authorities as is common when the event is a success - quickly claimed credit for supervising and inspiring the hard work by the Bromley volunteers. Not only did they do a great job, they also discounted the lift tickets to $35. Although we saw a number of new racers this year, the pre-race tension and muffled accusations were similar to those of prior years. There is the old (very old) Swedish/Danish grudge-match in the senior male division. Then there were hushed accusations in the men¹s division about "ducking" with respect to those who were notable by their absence due to "business" or, worse, "family" reasons. The men¹s race was also the victim of an apparent and ugly sandbagging incident, more of which below. Finally, there were the usual gerrymandering issues concerning the classification of racers into separate division. One racer with considerable influence in room assignments made it very clear that there should be a senior ladies division although the number of racers in that group would be rather limited. A stalwart from prior ladies races, Christine Holm, bailed out claiming that she was unable to race due to pregnancy. The course was a 30 gate giant slalom set on the East Meadow run at Bromley with running times of about 40-50 seconds. Bromley provided course workers including starter and announcer. Practice runs were allowed by the generous Alpine Authorities and the race consisted of the combined time of two runs. There was a total of 19 racers including a group of potential new members, with some fast (or, perhaps, not so fast nowadays) members notably absent. And with the exception of the Uganders (who, as we all know, will race anyone anywhere anyhow), none of the vertically disinclined cross-country folks showed up. Anyway, those who were there had a great time. The Alpine Chairman ("Kaiser Klas" to his cronies) showed up with a semi-newly operated Achilles Tendon despite his doctor¹s orders forbidding skiing, stating: "I am just going to organize the race and if I put my skis on I will only snow-plow through the course"; and "As far as I am concerned, this is Jonas Akermans or Per Kjellgrens race to lose". He walked with a pronounced limp and explained to everyone who wanted to listen how incapacitated he was. Nevertheless, a member allegedly saw the Chairman sneak out to the wax room during Cocktail Hour on Saturday and there were reports of wax fumes. If true, a behavior hardly consistent with snow plowing! Claus Morch, on the other hand, made no secret of his desire to prevail in the men¹s senior division and invested in expensive new racing equipment for the race, mumbling something about teaching that guy from the other side of Oresund a lesson once and for all. Then there were the competitive one-plankers (aka "snowboarders") Victor and Alex Kjellgren insisting on an "open" division hoping for a chance to compete for the overall championship. However, the most enthusiastic pre-race spirit belonged, as usual, to Olof Ugander and to the juniors Alex Nohre (who correctly prioritized downhill over cross-country) and Carl Akerman. The first run saw a blistering run by Patrik Dahlén (which did not count in the race since Mr. Dahlén is not a member, as the Alpine Authorities were quick to announce). The expected battle between Per Kjellgren and Jonas Akerman materialized with Per edging Jonas. Margareta Ugander, as usual lacking competition in the ladies' division set her aim on her "lesser half" Mikael, but came in just short. Carl Akerman and Alex Nohre enjoyed a good fight with Alex just edging Carl. To some, it was disturbing, however, that Klas Holm somehow took the overall lead after a run that had recklessness written all over it. In the second run, Jonas made a great effort but could not make up the difference to Per, Claus had to concede to Mikael and Maragareta pulled out all stops to beat Mikael which ended in a spectacular crash. Of the Nohres, Carl had a very good second run and Carl Akerman had a sensational run, cutting almost 15 seconds from the first. Snowboard 1. Victor Kjellgren (44.83-51.57) 1.36.40 2. Alex Kjellgren ((52.52-55.71) 1.48.23 Ladies (including Senior Ladies) 1. Margareta Ugander (45.34-1.13.24) 1.58.58 Juniors 1. Carl Akerman (1.15.09-1.01.92) 2.17.01 2. Alex Nohre (1.14.76-1.24.94) 2.39.70 Senior Men 1. Mikael Ugander (43.61-46.24) 1.29.85 2. Claus Morch (53.36-54.85) 1.48.21 Mens 1. Klas Holm (38.94-37.29) 1.16.23 2. Per Kjellgren (40.69-40.69) 1.21.38 3. Jonas Akerman (41.81-41.17) 1.22.98 4. Carl Nohre (44.48-42.52) 1.27.00 5. Olof Ugander (2.14.31-2.55.11) 5.09.42 |